FFAR Announces 28 FFAR Fellows

August 15, 2022 North Carolina State University

WASHINGTON (August 15, 2022) –Today the FFAR Fellows Program, established by the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) and NC State University, announced the 2022 cohort, which includes 28 fellows. The FFAR Fellowship is a unique three-year professional development training and mentorship program for doctoral students studying food and agriculture sciences.

Early career scientists often have limited opportunities to engage with industry and government leaders or develop soft skills critical to creating impact. To fill this gap, FFAR and North Carolina State University created the FFAR Fellows Program in 2018 to provide professional development for the next generation of food and agriculture scientists. The FFAR Fellows Program fosters interpersonal skills, communications, public speaking and project and team management, that are essential to workplace success and often not offered in an academic setting. The Fellows are also paired with industry mentors for additional career guidance. Ultimately, the Fellowship cultivates supportive relationships between graduate students and industry, government and nonprofit stakeholders to equip students with the skills needed to facilitate their transition to the workforce.

Last year, FFAR and North Carolina State University renamed the FFAR Fellows Program in honor of FFAR’s now retired executive director emeritus Dr. Sally Rockey and her commitment to supporting young scientists. FFAR also established the Rockey FFAR Fellows Fund to make the program’s professional development opportunities more accessible to all participants.

"The newest cohort of FFAR Fellows are an impressive group of young scientists and leaders who want to make a positive difference in the world. This Fellowship offers training and networking opportunities to provide these students with the tools to succeed in their future careers while enhancing their current productivity and well-being as Ph.D. students.” Dr. Rebecca Dunning
Director of Rockey FFAR Fellows

The 2022 FFAR Fellows include:

Connor Balfany, North Carolina State University
Jonathan Beutler, The University of British Columbia
Sujata Bogati, Purdue University
Ruth Eunice Centeno Martinez, Purdue University
Sarah Chu, Texas A&M
Mira Conyers, University of California, Davis
Matt Davis, University of California, Davis
Madeline Desjardins, Washington State University
Lindsay Garcia, Oregon State University
Vinicius Castelli Garnica, North Carolina State University
Lushan Ghimire, University of Florida
Katrina Klett, University of Minnesota
Lidia Komondy, Cornell University
Seldon Kwafo, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Samuele Lamon, The University of Georgia
Autumn McLaughlin, University of Tennessee
Rose Mumbi, Purdue University
Heeduk Oh, North Carolina State University
Stephen Onayemi, Washington State University
Kevin Orta, North Carolina State University
Mariana Prieto Torres, North Carolina State University
Riley Reed, Washington State University
Olanrewaju Shittu, Penn State University
Nikee Shrestha, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Samantha Surber, University of Georgia
Federico Tarnonsky, University of Florida
Destiny Tyson, North Carolina State University
Mei Ling Wong, Montana State University

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Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research

The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) builds public-private partnerships to fund bold research addressing big food and agriculture challenges. FFAR was established in the 2014 Farm Bill to increase public agriculture research investments, fill knowledge gaps and complement USDA’s research agenda. FFAR’s model matches federal funding from Congress with private funding, delivering a powerful return on taxpayer investment. Through collaboration and partnerships, FFAR advances actionable science benefiting farmers, consumers and the environment.

Connect: @FoundationFAR